Eureka3 Bulgaria: Liran Machluf wins Eureka3 Bulgaria and €93,000

The Eureka3 Bulgaria final table was a final table of two halves. From eight to two in no time and then a protracted heads-up contest between Liran Machluf and Alexander Moiseev. During the three hour contest between the two PokerStars qualifiers it was Machluf who won most of the battles and despite needing two goes at it he finally won the war as well, collecting €93,000 in doing so.

Liran Machulf - the newest Eureka champion

He had started heads-up play with a small lead and never actually relinquished it. For the first two and a half hours there wasn't a single all-in and call, we then saw two in quick succession. With the big blind a prohibitive 100,000 by this point Moiseev got his final 16 blinds in with A♠3♣ and was in dire straits against Machluf's A♥J♠ but flopped a three to double up.

Some 20 minutes later Machluf had stretched into a commanding chip lead once more and three-bet pre-flop with A♦5♦ flopped two pair and got Moiseev to commit his chips with pocket kings. There would be no outdraw this time and the title went to Machluf, whilst Moiseev had the consolation of winning €62,500 for finishing second.

Moiseev correctly guessed which position he was going to finish in

At the start of the final table Tane Tanevski was the chip leader he kept that lead intact throughout most of the first half of the final table, he eliminated Ivo Donev on one of the first hands of the final table and took care of Georgios Phiniotis soon after. Both times he held pocket sevens, he flopped a set against Donev's top pair and held against Phiniotis's A♣K♥.

But his final table turned for the worst when he recklessly doubled up Machluf with five players left. He never properly recovered and he finished third when he three-bet shoved for 20 big blinds and ran into Moiseev's pocket kings.

Tanevski - finished third

Donev's day was done early

That Machluf was still in to dent Tanevski was due to an horrific outdraw he put on sixth place finisher Papantoniou Stylianos. The latter limped under-the-gun with aces from a stack of 13 big blinds, Machluf jammed 20 big blinds with A♦Q♥ and Stylianos was only to happy to call when the action got back to him. He was less happy with the fact that a queen flopped and another one turned. He may never recover. To his credit he took his elimination in sixth better than many would've in similar circumstances and was spotted playing a side event soon after.

Stylianos - took a beat but stayed upbeat

There was by now no stopping Machluf and his next victim was the last remaining Bulgarian player in the tournament. After he raised the button Stefan Ivanov moved all-in for 22 big blinds with A♠8♦, Machluf called with K♠9♠ and flopped a nine to send Ivanov and much of the watching rail home.

Just 15 minutes later he eliminated Michal Vojtisek in fourth with pocket jacks against T♥8♥ to have 5,000,000 of the 8,340,000 in play. Only Moiseev's elimination of Tanevski stopped the heads-up battle being over before it began.

Ivanov - couldn't keep the trophy on home soil

Vojtisek played well to finish fourth

So that's it from Eureka Bulgaria, the tour moves on to Prague where the main event will take place Dec 8th-12th. Satellites and full information on that event will be available soon. To catch up on all today's action click here and to see who cashed for what click here.